Brakes Put on Daley's Furlough Plan

By Marcus Gilmer in News on May 13, 2009 6:00PM

Mayor Daley's plan to enforce furlough days on nonunion city workers has been delayed indefinitely while some changes are made. The City Council balked at Daley's original plan and insisted, instead, that a sliding scale be implemented: the higher a worker's salary, the more furlough he or she has to take. Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) told the Sun-Times, "It would have been very difficult to pass without it. When you get to a certain level of income, the impact should be greater. We have to take that into consideration for those on the lower end of the pay scale." And while Daley seems to have agreed to make the concession, he wasn't happy about it, especially the suggestion that workers making under $35,000 should be exempt from furlough days altogether.

"The police want to be excluded. The Fire Department wants to be excluded. People under $35,000 or $40,000 want to be excluded. People with families want to be excluded. So, exclude 'em all, and it has no effect then," said Daley, who will once again lead by example in taking furlough days. "How 'bout people with four or five children? How 'bout taking care of your parents? You'll exclude everyone. If you do that, then you have no one participating. Then, you're back in your financial problems."

The City Council's Finance Committee was to vote today on the plan, but it's been delayed due to the retinkering. Meanwhile, Daley and the unions continue to play "chicken" over a June 1 deadline that could see 1,100 city workers laid off.